The 2013 Radiology Summit exhibit hall is almost sold out!RBMA
There are only eight 10-foot-by-10-foot spaces available in the Radiology Summit exhibit hall at this time. If you are planning to attend the Radiology Summit as an exhibitor, don't delay. Apply for your space today. Assignments will be made on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Radiology Summit will be held May 19-22 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Billing Program Issues?The regulatory, administrative and financial challenges radiology practices face are more complex than ever.
In-house billing programs often lack the expertise to address new mandates; are expensive to staff, train and maintain. Also, many local, regional and national billing companies don't have the internal resources, technology and capabilities to operate independently in today's environment.

Radiology economics and RADPAC updateRBMAJoin Ted Burnes, MPA, and Maurine Dennis, MPH, MBA, at the Radiology Summit for an update from the ACR and RBMA on current economic issues and future trends relating to payment policies. Topics will include payor interactions, coding and the latest regulatory and legislative updates impacting imaging reimbursement.

The deadline to reserve your hotel room at the discounted rate for the Radiology Summit is April 26RBMARBMA has reserved a block of rooms at the discounted rate of $245 per night, single or double occupancy. In order to reserve your room, your registration must be processed with an approved payment. Once your application has been processed, a confirmation letter will be emailed to you within five business days. It will contain a code with which to reserve your hotel room at the special RBMA rate.

Make sure you plan ahead and leave yourself enough time to obtain the hotel code! Register today.

Each recipient received $1,500 to use toward the 2013 Radiology Summit. RBMA extends a thank you to Virtual Radiologic for providing RBMA members with additional educational opportunities within the field of radiology.

Day One will focus on CPT/HCPCS code assignment and assist the attendee in understanding core rules, regulations and definitions needed to confidently code Interventional Radiology services. Modifiers, global periods, coding resources, CCI edits, MUEs and physician documentation will also be covered. An introduction of 2014 AMA CPT code changes/updates relative to IR procedures will be included as part of this seminar with detailed case examples provided.

The second day of this program will consist exclusively of case examples of coding of difficult IR cases by the attendees. More experienced coders may choose to engage in the assignment of codes for these cases while those with less experience will learn from the dialogue between the audience and instructors.

At age 3, Affordable Care Act is no less controversialNPRThe Affordable Care Act turned 3 on Saturday, and it seems just as divisive as the day President Barack Obama signed it. "This law expands our competitiveness, promotes wellness and prevention, and enhances the economic security of the middle class," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

CMS unveils hospital violations databaseHealthLeaders Media For the first time, providers, payers and patients now have an enormous searchable database containing documents detailing about 8,000 serious federal safety rule violations at about 1,000 U.S. hospitals since January 2011.

Deloitte survey: Physicians pessimistic about futureClinical Innovation + TechnologyU.S. physicians expressed pessimism about the future of medicine, citing concerns about eroding clinical autonomy and income, and an overall struggle to achieve medical liability reform, in a 2013 survey published by Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. Nearly three-quarters of physicians surveyed felt "the best and brightest" may avoid a career in medicine, while more than half indicated that physicians will retire or scale back practice hours due to changes in the medical landscape.

Promise of Alzheimer's PET imaging hinges on reimbursementImaging BizAlzheimer's Disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and one in three seniors dies with some degree of dementia, announced the Alzheimer's Association this week. Yet nearly a year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first brain imaging test to diagnose Alzheimer's, the test remains uncommon outside of research trials, says Judith Rose, MD, director of PET/CT and nuclear medicine for RadNet.

Radiology consolidation: An update on the practice landscapeDiagnostic Imaging (registration required)Fifteen years ago, the face of radiology practice looked distinctly different. Most practitioners were either in private practice or they aspired to be. That trend is now in the midst of a 180-degree turn. Today, radiology's landscape is dominated by steadily increasing consolidation. Consolidation — an effort to bring together disparate groups and resources to create a stronger entity — isn't a phenomenon unique to radiology.

Vendor-neutral archives can save money, add efficiencyAunt Minnie (registration required)Vendor-neutral archives can save millions over a traditional PACS storage model, while improving efficiency across a healthcare enterprise, according to a March 18 presentation at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine regional meeting. At the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, implementing a VNA will save the institution nearly $3 million over five years by avoiding the costs associated with a conventional PACS storage model.

Who are the uninsured? The feds parse the numbersKaiser Health NewsThere are 48.4 million uninsured Americans — about 18 percent of the population — according to the last Census. But who are they? And what is the best way to get them signed up for new health insurance coverage options that roll out this fall? The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has just released a brief for those with a stake in getting people signed up, including insurers, consumer advocates and state officials.